Friday, May 18th, 2012
As Racing prepare for this evening’s visit of Villareal, events away from the football field have taken centre stage in Cantabria this week. With the club holding debts totalling €13 million with the Spanish Treasury, owner Ahsan Ali Syed has taken the first steps towards lifting this burden from the club’s shoulders, paying around €2 million up front and agreeing a payment plan for the rest of the outstanding debt. Indeed, the finance minister for the region of Cantabria, Ángel Agudo, moved to praise Syed, confirming that he had “resolved a situation that had left Racing highly compromised”.
Furthermore, the Indian tycoon’s positive initial influence on the club has also been palpable on the pitch. Dispensing with the increasingly unpopular Miguel Ángel Portugal, his decision to bring back former (and successful) manager Marcelino was greeted with optimism in Santander, and has so far brought with it two league wins from two, lifting the club to the relative comfort of mid-table. Now, after wins over Sevilla and Getafe, Racing face a tougher assignment: a Villareal side sitting just two points behind third-placed Valencia, and buoyant after their excellent Europa League victory over the Italians Napoli on Thursday.
Certainly, the Racing boss was impressed with what he saw. “They played well…and they showed that from the midfield to the attack they are an excellent team”. However, he remains hopeful of using the midweek European successes of the submarino amarillo to his own side’s benefit, suggesting that “if we can set a high rhythm and maintain it, they’ll begin to feel the effects of the Napoli game.”
With midfielder Gonzálo Colsa injured, Marcelino may bring Adrián in from the left to accompany Lacen in the centre of midfield, with veteran Pedro Munitis switching to the left. In attack, Swede Markus Rosenberg is likely to partner Argentine Ariel Nahuelpan. Meanwhile, on-loan Giovani dos Santos is expected to be given more minutes from the bench, with Marcelino maintaining that the young Mexican remains unprepared for a full 90 minutes.
For Villareal, the defeat of Serie A challengers Napoli has brought a much-needed lift at the Estadio Madrigal. A team so often described as the potential ‘third way’ in La Liga has begun to stumble in domestic competition. Since defeating Espanyol at the end of January, three league fixtures have yielded just one point, ceding the advantage to rivals Valencia in the fight for third. And coach Juan Carlos Garrido, hopeful that the positivity of progress in Europe can be translated to the league, has brushed aside suggestions of fatigue following their exertions during the week, pointing out that “if you’ve won the game, tiredness isn’t a problem after it”.
Midfielder Borja Valero, whose performance in the win against Napoli has once again drawn admiring glances from the Madrid press, will be without his fellow centrocampista Bruno Soriano, who misses out with injury, with Marcos Gullón taking his place in midfield. With Valencia playing later in the evening, Garrido is looking to place the pressure firmly back on the shoulders of Los Ché. A return to winning ways tonight, taking his side back into third place “for a few hours at least”, would be a start.
Probable Line-ups:
Racing: Toño, Pinillos, Torrejón, Henrique, Christian, Kennedy, Lacen, Adrián, Munitis, Ariel, Rosenberg.
Villareal: Diego López, Mario, Marchena, Gonzalo, Capdevila, Borja Valero Marcos Gullçon, Cazorla, Cani, Nilmar, Rossi.
